When you do something wrong, or if you are bad in some manner, it is common courtesy to say that you are sorry. Saying you are sorry is something most parents teach a child at a young age, and over the years everyone has probably said they are sorry more times than they would like to remember. On the poker tables it is not uncommon for someone to say they are sorry. But why, what is the point?

If you play poker long enough you will absorb some bad beats. It is an inevitable part of the game. The flip side of the coin is that you may give out some bad beats yourself. If you bad beat someone and really feel poorly about it, in a ring game you can always just ship back the money. If it is in a poker tournament and you feel bad you can fold every time the player you bad beat makes a raise. Those two options seem a bit ridiculous right? So does being sorry for giving out a bad beat. In a game built on amassing more than the other player, sorry has no real place. Everyone plays by the same set of rules and everyone is trying to get your money or your chips. If you take a bad beat I can almost assure you that whatever you lost will not simply be given back.

Perhaps saying you are sorry makes you feel better. Maybe saying you are sorry is just something you say out of reflex. I am not trying to say you should not say you are sorry, but certainly you should not feel compelled to do so. Just remember that whoever you bad beat has plenty of motivation to get back their chips regardless of whether or not you say you are sorry, after all, that’s poker.